The Jinxiang Hall on the high platform was solemn and magnificent, and the large pillars exposed below the roof made it look a bit rougher. A group of people walked out of the hall, talking as they walked, and the voices were noisy.
There were many people here, but the square still felt empty, probably because the space around it was too wide; there were no additional buildings around the Jinxiang Palace, not even a tree, but there were many water tanks next to the houses in the distance. Most of the important buildings were like this, not for beauty, but to prevent assassins and fire.
A group of ministers had just left the court and were still discussing the state affairs. Under the double-eaved building full of oriental charm, the appearance of the civil servants in long robes bowing and kowtowing was a unique scene.
Wang Pu casually clasped his fists to the official who bowed to him and said: Please do as you wish, Mr. Li, we will talk again tomorrow.
After he said that, he turned to Guo Shao and said: Li Chuyun was the right person to choose. I did not expect that he would make such rapid progress.
What the court was concerned about just now was what Wang Pu said. Less than a month after Li Chuyun left Beijing, he had crossed the river to capture Lizhou, besieged Langzhou and Changde, and sent people back to Beijing to report the progress of the war; while besieging Langzhou, he also captured the surrounding territories in order to turn Langzhou into an isolated city. Li Chuyun wrote a letter to the court, proposing a strategy of clipping the wings first and then attacking the heart: he believed that Changsha would send troops to rescue Langzhou; after besieging the city and attacking the reinforcements, he would weaken Changsha's military strength, and then further capture Changsha, without rushing to attack Langzhou, Zhou Xingfeng's old nest.
After consultation with several core ministers, the Privy Council considered Li Chuyun's ability and granted the front camp the power to make decisions on the spot.
Guo Shao laughed and said: I have known Li Chuyun for many years, but I still don’t know what kind of person he is
Wang Pu bowed in admiration.
At this moment, Guo Shao saw a eunuch holding a whisk rushing from the corridor under the Jinxiang Palace. The empty square was really conspicuous when there were people there. No wonder they said that not planting trees could prevent assassins.
Guo Shao had good eyesight and recognized Cao Tai at a glance. Wang Pu took a look and saw Guo Shao slow down and wait for the eunuch slowly, so he said goodbye and left.
After a while, the thin Cao Tai caught up with Guo Shao. Guo Shao clasped his fists and saluted: "Eunuch Cao, what are you so anxious about?"
Cao Tai hurriedly returned the gift politely and took out an envelope from his arms: "Inspector Guo, please take a look at this first."
Guo Shao glanced at Cao Tai, then calmly pulled out the letter. He first saw that the first line was written by General Gao Yanchou, then immediately turned to the end to see the signature: Emperor of Great Shu. He asked: Is this the handwriting of Duke Qin
Cao Taidao: That’s right.
Guo Shao read the contents of the letter, and a smile appeared on his face. After a while, he raised his head and said with a smile: This Duke Qin is really funny.
Cao Tai also laughed when he saw this, and then looked around and whispered: What the Queen Mother means is that Meng Chang doesn't need to worry about the messenger and the letter. Why not just ask the messenger to send it to Gao Yanchou? Gao Yanchou has not left the capital these few days.
After hearing this, Guo Shao thought about it for a moment and understood Fu Jinzhan's intention: he simply did not trust the surrendered generals from Shu, and now he was letting Gao Yanchou take charge of the Shu army, and he was not very reassured and wanted to test him.
He was silent for a long time. Cao Tai said: Gao Yanchou was recommended by Guo Dudianjian, and the Queen Mother also wanted to ask your opinion first.
Guo Shao thought for a long time, and finally spoke with a look of relief on his face: There was an incident before. After the Qinfengchengjie battle, the Great Zhou captured some Shu surrendered soldiers. The first emperor recruited them and transferred them to the Huainan battlefield. As a result, those Shu soldiers surrendered at the first blow, and some took the initiative to surrender to the generals of the Southern Tang army. Later, the first emperor defeated the Southern Tang army and captured the Shu soldiers. The first emperor was very angry and ordered them to be killed.
Cao Tai nodded to show that he was listening.
Guo Shao said again: I think of the Battle of Gaoping. After the Xiaodi Army was dispersed, my brother Luo Mengzi was summoned by other generals to continue chasing the Northern Han Army. Luo Mengzi said that if they were not the soldiers of that general, he would treat them as animals and drive them to die. It can be seen that even their own people do not trust the generals they are not familiar with, let alone the surrendered soldiers of the Shu Army. How can they easily trust the generals sent by the Great Zhou
This is why I want to use Gao Yanchou. He is a surrendered general of the Shu army. The Shu soldiers are familiar with him and trust him. Only in this way can the Shu soldiers be effective. Otherwise, we can't use them well and waste food and military pay. Gao Yanchou is a capable and intelligent general, but there are many capable generals in the Great Zhou. If he was not a Shu general, I would not have to use him as the commander of the Jiannan Army.
Cao Tai said: I see. I will remember this and report it to the Queen Mother when I get back.
Guo Shao said: I think it is unnecessary to give this letter to Gao Yanchou. If we give it to him, how will he respond? First of all, he will never follow Meng Chang's advice and take risks. Gao Yanchou is not a fool. He was about to lose his family because of the demise of Shu, but now he can keep everything and be more important. He doesn't want to be a general of Zhou army, but to be in collusion with Meng Chang. Meng Chang is not a man who can accomplish things, and now he has nothing. If Gao Yanchou is not stupid, he will not go to die with him.
Gao Yanchou could only have two possible reactions. First, hand in the letter to show his loyalty, so that he would have to bear the self-blame and public condemnation for being ruthless and ungrateful to his former master Meng Chang; moreover, this would prove his loyalty. No one can force a person to think in his heart, and people can only look at his words and deeds on the surface. Mutual trust can only be cultivated, not forced.
Second, pretend he didn't know and quietly burn the secret letter as if he hadn't received it. In this way, he can do his best to show his kindness to his old master. However, since we are testing him, we will find out whether he will be suspicious of Gao Yanchou for the rest of his life if he does that. If he thinks we are suspicious of him, he will be on guard.
With this speculation, we can conclude that testing him will not gain any benefit, but will only destroy the fragile trust between each other. So I think it is useless, so I ask the Queen Mother not to test him. The ancients said that if you employ someone, don't doubt him, and if you doubt him, don't employ him. Maybe it's because it's useless to doubt him. If I thought Gao Yanchou was unreliable, I would not have recommended him before.
After hearing this, Cao Tai nodded hurriedly: "Guo Du Dianjian's words made me suddenly enlightened, and I thought it was really the case."
Guo Shao smiled confidently and said: Even if Gao Yanchou wants to rebel, he couldn't beat me in Shu Kingdom at the beginning; now that he has lost the mountains and rivers, I can still beat him a second time. Don't worry too much.
Cao Tai looked up to see Guo Shao's face. Seeing Guo Shao's calm and confident smile, Cao Tai was full of respect after hearing his words: I have never been convinced by many people in my life, but I really admire Guo Du Dianjian. With Guo Du Dianjian in the court, I feel very safe.
Guo Shao patted Cao Tai on the shoulder and said: Eunuch Cao is also a good man with both moral integrity and talent. Give me this letter.
Cao Tai said excitedly: "I and Guo Du Dianjian have survived many hardships and I have always remembered your kindness. If the Queen Mother asks how Guo Du Dianjian plans to deal with the secret letter, I can also answer."
Return it to Meng Chang. Guo Shao said, if I want to kill him, I don’t need this thing.
Cao Tai seemed to be thinking about something, as if trying to figure out the purpose of Guo Shao's action, but he was not a talkative person and did not ask any more questions.
Guo Shaodao: If everything is ok, I’ll leave first.
Cao Tai bowed and said: I have to hurry back to see the Queen Mother to report this matter, so I’ll take my leave now.
Guo Shao was not in a hurry. He took the letter home and stayed for a long time. He chatted with Jingniang in the living room in the front yard while waiting for Zuo You. Zuo You came to chat almost every day, so he usually came by himself.
Sure enough, it didn't take long before Zuo You entered the courtyard. No one stopped him and he didn't need to report. He entered Guo Shao's house as easily as entering his own home.
The two exchanged the latest news first, so as to share information. Guo Shao then took out the secret letter and handed it to Zuo You: "Take some time to go to the Duke of Qin's mansion and return the letter to Meng Chang."
Zuo Youxian took the letter and read it, his shoulders twitching: This is really too funny, this is not the way to seek death.
Guo Shao looked back at Jing Niang and said calmly: The Queen Mother didn't say she wanted to kill him. Zuo You went to return the secret letter and took the opportunity to observe Meng Chang's attitude and figure it out before we talk.
Zuo You stopped smiling and said: It is true that Meng Chang cannot rebel, but we still have to be wary of him talking nonsense and affecting the people's hearts in Shu.
Guo Shao praised: Mr. Zuo is becoming more and more thoughtful, and he has the talent to be a prime minister.
Zuo You hurriedly shook his head and said: I dare not, I am too inexperienced.
After talking for a while, Zuo You stood up and wanted to go see Meng Chang immediately. As the saying goes, those who are close to vermilion will be red, and those who are close to ink will be black. Guo Shao usually has this style, and the people around him are more or less influenced.
At this time Jingniang said: Alang, I want to go with Mr. Zuo to see Madam Huarui.
Guo Shao smiled and said: Okay, do whatever you want, I haven’t tied your feet.
Zuo You rode in a carriage, and Jing Niang wore a veil to protect herself from the sun, more straightforward than the men, and rode along directly. The Duke of Qin's mansion was in the eastern part of the inner city, not too far from Guo Shao's mansion. It didn't take long for the carriage to go along the street, and it would take less than half an hour to walk slowly.
The group handed in their visiting cards at the Duke of Qin's mansion, but a tall and fat civil servant came out to greet them. Zuo You said, "I am Zuo You, the Junior Secretary of the Ministry of Rites, and I would like to meet the Duke of Qin. I hope you can introduce me to him."
The civil servant hurriedly said: Please, please come in.
Zuo You and Jing Niang went to the door together. The civil official was of a much lower rank than Zuo You, so he only dared to walk behind him, pointing the way with his hands, and did not dare to walk in front. Zuo You vaguely heard a scholar behind him whisper: Zuo Shaoqing often enters the gate of Guo Du Dianjian's mansion.
Zuo You ignored their whispers and didn't care. He thought: I am just Guo Shao's staff member, there is nothing to hide. If it weren't for this identity, I would be the Shaoqing of the Taichang Temple.
The civil servant, on the other hand, nodded and bowed, becoming even more submissive. Zuo You saw this, but was not surprised. He had seen this kind of thing too many times; most of his colleagues of lower rank in the court behaved in the same way when they heard about his relationship.